Tennessee Highway Patrol checking that drivers wear seat belts as part of Click It or Ticket campaign

Law enforcement across the state will take part in the Click It or Ticket campaign through June 2.(Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

Tennessee Highway Patrol in Madison County is making sure that West Tennessee drivers are wearing their seat belts as part of this year's Click It or Ticket campaign.

“Our current campaign is running through June 2 where officers will be even more vigilant than usual in making sure drivers are wearing their seat belts,” THP spokesperson Karla Lipford said. “We have about 90% of drivers in Tennessee who wear their seat belts, but we want to make that percentage even higher.”

Lipford said there were 255 fatalities on Tennessee roadways in 2018 who weren’t wearing their seat belt.

“Those deaths could possibly have been prevented if they’d been wearing their seat belt, so we want to keep everybody as safe as possible on our highways and streets across the state,” Lipford said.

Lipford said they don’t have definite statistics on why most people who choose not to wear a seat belt do so, but she said many seat belt tickets are written at night.

“It’s dark and hard to see when a driver isn’t wearing his or her seat belt, so we think that has something to do with that,” Lipford said.

Madison County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tom Mapes also cited reports that more truck drivers are more likely to not wear their seat belt.

No matter when a person is driving or what he or she is driving, Lipford maintained it’s important to keep yourself in a better position to be safe in a vehicle by wearing a seat belt.

“That’s why it’s the law because it’s proven to save lives,” Lipford said.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.